Natalie Portman: ‘Moms work harder than anyone’

Before becoming a mother, Natalie Portman believed moms "don’t work" -- an opinion she no longer holds since giving birth to her son in 2011.

The Oscar winner and Harvard graduate admits she has newfound respect for the role of motherhood and its challenges in a new interview with Elle U.K.

"I love being a mum, but it's much more intensive work than being an actress — going to work feels like you've got a day off,” she said.

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She added: "Not that I want a day off from being a mum, it's just perhaps I had this impression before that mums don't work. But they work more than anyone."

Natalie went on to share some insights on sexism in Hollywood, saying that the film industry has a far way to go in its depiction of gender roles.

"I want every version of a woman and man to be possible. I want women and men to be able to be full-time parents or full-time working people or any combination of the two," she said.

She continued: "The fallacy in Hollywood is that if you’re making a 'feminist' story, the woman kicks ass and wins. That’s not feminist, that’s macho. A movie about a weak, vulnerable woman can be feminist if it shows a real person that we can empathize with," she said.

Natalie, 31, welcomed her son Aleph in June 2011 with dancer Benjamin Millepied. The couple married 14 months later in an intimate, Jewish ceremony.

The Israeli-born actress is promoting her upcoming film Thor: The Dark World in which she plays feisty astrophysicist Jane Foster.

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